Pancreatitis and diarrhea

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Babee's mom

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Babee was DX with on 10/3/11 with pancreatitis. She was put on Metronidizole 50mg for 12 days after her hospital stay. We finished her Metronidizole last week. She has had diarrhea for 3 days now. It started a few days after she went off the Metronidizole. My vet(not the ER where she was DX) put her back on Metronidizole 62.5mg for 5 days along with Centrine for the diarrhea. Is this normal with a DX of pancreatitis? Is it going to be an ongoing issue?

I don't want her to get dehydrated or this to cause any other issues. She is eating and drinking. Is there anything I can add to her diet to help pancreatitis?

Thanks again for your help,
Kelly and Babee
 
Babee's mom said:
Babee was DX with on 10/3/11 with pancreatitis. She was put on Metronidizole 50mg for 12 days after her hospital stay. We finished her Metronidizole last week. She has had diarrhea for 3 days now. It started a few days after she went off the Metronidizole. My vet(not the ER where she was DX) put her back on Metronidizole 62.5mg for 5 days along with Centrine for the diarrhea. Is this normal with a DX of pancreatitis? Is it going to be an ongoing issue?

I don't want her to get dehydrated or this to cause any other issues. She is eating and drinking. Is there anything I can add to her diet to help pancreatitis?

Thanks again for your help,
Kelly and Babee
Click to expand...

Neither of my cats had diarrhea and pancreatitis, but for pancreatitis, you should be giving fluids and pain meds as it's quite painful. Also, you can give pepcid for gas/upset stomach - daily total pepcid is 5mg or 1/2 tab of plain regular strength pepcid. cut the 10mg tab into 4 pieces, give twice a day.

were you given pain meds, something like buprinex, and fluids? If not, you should call your vet to enquire.
 
Hi Kelly,

Glad to hear Babee is home from the hospital! I second what Gayle said about the SubQ fluids and buprenex (for pain) if she is not already getting those, you might want to ask for some.

I can't recall from you last post, did they come back with a conclusion of inflamatory bowel disease? Diarrhea is not commonly seen with only pancreatitis but it can be present when there is both pancreatitis and IBD present. In fact, metronidazole is routinely prescribed for IBD, not as commonly for just pancreatitis. If the metronidazole works, you can continue to use it for now but it's not a drug you want to use long term due to the potential for neurological side effects.

Since Babee may have both pancreatitis and IBD and is a diabetic, you may want to consider a raw food diet - so long as Babee is not immunocompromised. Raw food diets either commercial or homemade from a nutritionally complete recipe are high in protein, moderate in fat and low in carbohydrates plus have no commercial additives which may contribute to some forms of IBD. Some commercially available raw foods include Feline's Pride, Rad Cat Raw, Primal Pet, and Nature's Variety.
 
Hi Laura,
The ER hospital didn't give anything other that the metronidizole. They also didn't mention IBD. I am not sure if I should take her back to the ER that DX her, since my vet didn't know what to do. He just gave her the 2 RX's I mentioned below.

Is the raw food diet hard to introduce?

Thanks for your help.
 
Babee's mom said:
Hi Laura,
The ER hospital didn't give anything other that the metronidizole. They also didn't mention IBD. I am not sure if I should take her back to the ER that DX her, since my vet didn't know what to do. He just gave her the 2 RX's I mentioned below.

Is the raw food diet hard to introduce?

Thanks for your help.
Click to expand...

Chronic pancreatitis (or does my cat have a pepcid deficiency?)

List of Low-Carb/Med.-Fat Food for Cats with Diabetes AND Chronic Pancreatitis

my cats like little bits of raw chicken. I watch for sales and get big trays of boneless/skinless chicken breasts and freeze them individually, taking one out a week and cut into thin slices. Three of my cats eat the chicken raw, and it's a healthy snack if your cat is ever hungry in the 2hrs before shots.
It may be one way to see if your cat will like raw.
 
Hi Kelly,

Is Babee eating and drinking normally? If your regular vet does not seem to know what to do, I suggest calling the ER doctor then. So long as she is eating and drinking, peeing, and it sounds like pooping. then she may not need to go back. If she isn't eating or drinking, then taking her back would be a good idea. Obviously the diarrhea needs attention. I would definitely ask for a bag of SubQ fluids, an admin. line and needles - and also buprenex for pain. The ER vet tech can show you how to administer both items. If it sounds a little overwhelming, you could post up your city and state and we could see if there is another member close by who can help teach you.

Regarding the food transition, it's not hard, but it will need to be handled very carefully and will take some time to do properly. Babee's digestive tract is very sensitive right now and may not be fully healed. I personally would wait until you and the vet are certain the pancreatitis attack has subsided and is under control before introducing a new food. When the attack is subsided and Babee is eating and drinking normally (and hopefully the metronidazole will keep the pooping under control) you might want to slowly start adding in a teaspoon of raw food to her regular food and mix it in. Some cats take to raw food right away like they were born to it, others like it and then stop liking it and others like it but get sick on it because it's so radically different for their bodies which are conditioned to eat commercial food. So long as she eats it and has no reactions (e.g vomiting, diarrhea, etc.) keep doing that for a week. The next week, add two teaspoons and start reducing her regular food accordingly, the following week add three teaspoons raw and reduce her regular food etc. until you are finally feeding all raw. It may take a month to fully transition her over.

While raw food did not work out for my Harley because he has constipation, not diarrhea, there are many kitties on the board whose diarrhea was controlled by raw food. If she doesn't like it or gets sick on it, return to feeding her the canned food she was eating that you know she likes. Sometimes a cat can be allergic to the protein source like chicken, turkey, fish, etc. so part of the food trial is to find out if she can tolerate the protein source. You might want to keep a food journal and document what you feed her and whether or not she had a reaction to it so that way you can try to narrow down what foods she may be sensitive to.

Sorry if this is overwhelming - this is like the Cliff Notes version of diet change and food trials.

HTH
 
Hi Laura,

Thanks for all the info. How long did it take Harley to get over the pancreatitis attack? How did you know he also had IBD?

I put a call into the ER vet and am waiting to hear back. Babee is eating, drinking and peeing normally. She just has the diarrhea once or twice a day. I am going to start a food log and see if that helps narrow down a food issue.

Thanks again,
Kelly
 
Hi Kelly,

Harley's was an acute case which flared first in March and then again in April. He was not out of the woods until late May. He needed steroids and a plasma transfusion in order to turn a corner and get better. He still has to take 5 mg prednisolone daily in order to keep with the pancreatitis & IBD in check. I've tried to gradually wean him off of it but every time I do, one or both conditions flares and I have to go back to 5 mg again. His IBD was diagnosed via biopsy and endoscopy in August of this year.

That's wonderful that Babee is eating, drinking, peeing and pooping. She sounds like she's doing so much better - just need to get the poop under control. It wouldn't hurt to get the fluids and buprenex to have and keep on hand. Pancreatitis can be a one time thing or it can be a chronic thing and now that you know she's had it once, it helps to be prepared just in case it flares again. You know how it is, our furkids always get sick at night, on the weekend or on a holiday when the vet's office is closed!

Good luck to you and Babee. cat_pet_icon
 
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